Rangers hope to score £50m float

Rangers will list its shares on the London Stock Exchange this week in a move expected to value the football club at £50m and revive the once-great team's fortunes.

The Glasgow-based club, which is looking to recover from the humiliation of administration and demotion, has already raised £17m from financial institutions including Legal & General and Hargreaves Hale.

Sources close to Rangers said it is likely to raise up to £27m in total when it starts trading on the junior Alternative Investment Market on Wednesday. Cenkos, which is acting as Rangers' adviser, has claimed that the equity value of Rangers can double within three years.

In a note to prospective investors seen by The Independent on Sunday, the broker said Rangers will be profitable in its first full year of trading with full ownership of its assets, including Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park training ground.

Rangers dominated Scottish football alongside rivals Celtic until going into liquidation in June. The club owed £134m to unsecured creditors and was relegated to the Scottish third division after 25 of the 30 clubs in the Scottish Football League voted in favour of demotion.

Despite optimism about the flotation, Rangers, managed by Ally McCoist, left, have found life harder than expected in the lower leagues, and lead Elgin City, a minnow with a stadium capacity of just 4,520, by the narrowest of margins.

"Rangers' rich heritage of success leaves it well positioned to further expand and monetise its global fan base," the prospectus said.